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Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Prolific and neurotic director Woody Allen (Annie Hall, Manhattan) goes wildly romantic in his latest flick, set in Barcelona. Two young Americans, Vicky (Hall) and Cristina (Johansson) meet a flamboyant artist (Bardem) and his beautiful wack-job of an ex-wife (Penelope Cruz, in her 2009 Oscar winning role). Vicky is very well behaved, as she is about to be married. Cristina on the other hand, is described in press notes as "a sexually adventurous free spirit". When they all become amorously entangled, things get chaotic.
Starring Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Patricia Clarkson
Directed by Woody Allen ('Melinda & Melinda', 'Deconstructing Harry', 'Bullets Over Broadway', 'Manhattan', 'Annie Hall')
Written by Woody Allen
Festivals & Awards Best Supporting Actress for Penelope Cruz - Academy Awards 2009, BAFTA Awards 2009. Best Film (Comedy) - Golden Globes 2009.
Drama, Comedy | 1hr 36mins | Rated (M) | Origin: Spain, USA | Official Site »
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4
Legendary writer/director Woody Allen presents audiences with his most accessible production of recent times. The titular Vicky and Cristina are a pair of American tourists enjoying a summer holiday in Spain when an encounter with a passionate, in every sense of the word, local artist and his ex-wife turns their love lives upside down.
Lots of people deserve to be singled out for praise. Javier Bardem gives a performance that is the flipside of, but no less impressive than, his menacing turn in No Country For Old Men, swapping sinister for sensual without skipping a beat. My new goal in life is to be as smooth as he is. Penelope Cruz is fantastic as the unstable ex-wife and commands your attention whenever she is on screen, like a powder keg waiting to explode. Woody Allen returns to career best form as a writer too, pacing the unfolding events at a deceptively brisk place and sprinkling plenty of punchy dialogue and thoughtful humour throughout.
But the real star of the show is Barcelona itself in all its eye-catching glory - due credit to the camerawork for giving it such a lustrous glow, but oh what a canvas to work on. It’s hard to imagine anyone not wanting to visit the city after having seen this movie. It’s incorporated nicely into the narrative too, preventing the film from descending into a mere travelogue, which could easily have happened were it not in such good hands. Instead, its exotic, cultured aura seeps into the cast of richly drawn characters and underpins the witty, intelligent look at the complications that orbit modern relationships.
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The people's reviews
5 reviews
Press Reviews
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FilmThreat.com [USA]
Let's not kid ourselves: There's something about Javi.
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Los Angeles Times
Bardem's performance is so good it tends to mask how lacking much of what surrounds it is.
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Rolling Stone [USA]
Woody Allen's sexiest movie ever.
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Salon.com [USA]
It's literally difficult to believe that the person who made this picturesque, clueless, oddly misanthropic picture also made "Annie Hall" and "Crimes and Misdemeanors."
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San Francisco Chronicle
The film's freedom and control, its inspiration and focus, announce it as the work of a confident and mature artist.
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TV3 [Kate Rodger]
4
Sexy, funny, and undeniable European, this has to be my favourite Woody Allen of recent years.
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Variety [USA]
Offers potent romantic fantasy elements for men and women and a cast that should produce the best commercial returns for a Woody Allen film since "Match Point."
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